My To-Be-Read Stack

To many great books, so little time...

I don’t have much of an update this week. I’ve got a couple of urgent projects going on in the day job, so I’ve not had much time to write lately. I am finding time to jot down notes, thoughts, and plans for some of the projects I’m working on, so there is progress, however limited!

I thought I’d share a snapshot of my To Be Read pile on my nightstand. Honestly, it’s a little out of control, but that’s basically how it always is, much to my wife’s chagrin.

The stack is currently at 7 books, with my most active project on top. Hannibal’s War by J.F. Lazenby is a fantastic book. I’m going to do a more in-depth Reading Recap on this one when I finish, but you can probably see by the copious tags on the book I am getting a ton out of it. Lazenby’s writing style is very clear and direct. He spends a lot of time comparing the primary sources we have for the Second Punic War, mainly Polybius and Livy, discussing them in terms of their reliability, what sort of slant they put on the information, and what the historical record says about their accuracy. I find it extremely helpful and have marked a number of references to follow up on. Like in my review of Fall of the Double Eagle, those sticky markers will get turned into entries in a OneNote Doc so I can try to keep my Lions of Hamilcar world straight. If you’re interested in how I organize research information, check out this post:

The other books in order from top to bottom are:

The Collected Poems of Rudyard Kipling: A fantastic $5 find on the Barnes & Noble sale rack.

Polybius: The most reliable primary source we have for the Second Punic War.

Hunger and the Sword by Paul Erdkamp: More research on the Roman Republic. I plan to start this one after finishing up Hannibal’s War.

The Creative Act by Rick Rubin: I heard about this book originally in a podcast the author did with Dan Carlin of Hardcore History. I was in the Atlanta airport last year and needed something to read when I saw it on the shelf in a Hudson Books. I was very taken by this book when I first saw it. This is a very different book. it’s mostly Rubin’s musings on a creative life, his process, and how he thinks about his work. If you’re not familiar, he’s one of the greats behind the rise of hip hop music and widely considered one of the most creative and influential influences behind that genre. I’m about halfway done with this book and it’s a fascinating glimpse into Rubin’s mind.

Creativity Inc. by Ed Catmull

12 Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson

And hiding underneath the stack still in its bag is Steel: The Story of Pittsburgh’s Iron and Steel Industry 1852-1902 by Dale Richard Perelman. I have a hard time resisting any book that has liquid steel on the cover, so I snatched this up at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum gift shop a while ago.

Out in front is a beautifully illustrated copy of The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien. I’m reading this with my two oldest kids and I love this book. The internal illustrations are not very frequent, but they’re beautifully done and my kids love the book.

That’s my imposing TBR pile. What are you reading right now? What’s in your TBR pile? Let me know in the comments.

I’m going to be taking a couple weeks off, so you probably won’t hear from me until early October. I’ve got those two work projects that are coming due, and I’m trying my best to finish up a short story for an October 4th deadline. Until then, take care and I’ll see you next time!